Unity's application menu bar accessibility problems

[h3]

Description: Ubuntu 11.04
Release: 11.04

I was ambiguous about using the bug tracker to report this issue. But since it is really an problem that doesn't seem to have been addressed yet and the post about it on Ubuntu Brainstorm predate 11.04's launch, I've decided to report it as a bug.

In Unity the menu bar and title bar of applications are located at the same place and the menu bar is shown only on mouse over.

Besides breaking some applications (I had problems with Gvim and VirtualBox), this cause serious UX issues .

1. Hiding window controls when the window is inactive and maximized force the user to focus the window before being able to click one of the three title bar buttons (close, maximize, toggle) or access the application's menu bar. The problem is further annoying when working extensively with multiple monitors. I am aware that this is a side effect of the way Unity works with title bars/menu bars, but it is an accessibility issue nevertheless.

2. The same holds true for window titles, the user have to focus a maximized window to see it's title. Again, when working with multiple monitors the problem is only more evident. A maximized window in a inactive monitor has only a grey title bar that convey no information about the maximized window. This problem could be more easily solved than the first with more subtle rules for maximized window (ex: if maximized and raised, always show the title bar).

3. But above all, hiding the window menu bar cause a serious UX problem. As I couldn’t put it better:

> Mystery meat navigation (also known as MMN) is a disparaging term coined in 1998 by author and web designer Vincent Flanders to describe a visually attractive but concurrently inefficient, confusing, or abstruse user interface, usually one that is Internet-based[1]. Such interfaces lack a user-centered design, emphasizing aesthetic appearance, white space, and the concealment of relevant information over basic practicality and functionality.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_meat_navigation

4. When the window is not maximized it's possible access a context menu when right clicking its title bar. However this context menu is not accessible when the window is maximized (nothing happens when the pseudo task/menu bar is right clicked. This breaks user expectations.

My suggestion to solve issues 1, 2, 3and probably 4 is the following: introduce an option to have the menu/title bar either merged (like it is out of the box) or separated (old fashion).

And if you're kind enough, you could bind a keyboard shortcut to toggle between the two modes.

Brainstorm thread: http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/27346/

Thanks.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04
Package: xorg 1:7.6+4ubuntu3.1
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CompositorRunning: compiz
Date: Mon Jul 18 21:40:50 2011
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[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[h3 (h3)]

Just an update to say that most of the issues raised are also present in Ubuntu 11.10.

[nLinked (nlinked-deactivatedaccount)]

Your first point affects me most:

"Hiding window controls when the window is inactive and maximized force the user to focus the window before being able to click one of the three title bar buttons (close, maximize, toggle)"

It is becoming increasingly common on my day to day computing in Unity where I am focusing my attention on a small window, but I want to go and close the maximised unfocused window behind it, then realise I have to click on the background window first to shows its close button. Really thought this bug would have received more attention by now. Is no one else bugged by this?

[Premek Brada (brada)]

Thanks h3 for filing this as a bug. The inaccessible controls annoy me rather often especially as clicking inside the max'd window (to give it focus by mouse) tends to be tricky with applications that have dense layout filled with controls (e.g. gmail).

So here is my +1 for this to be fixed.

[David Cramer (david-thingbag)]

I'd avoided Unity until now (12.04). I'm basically happy with it at this point except for this annoying and silly ux bug. If a window is NOT maximized and loses focus, the window title remains, though with lighter text. Why would the title disappear if the window is maximized and loses focus? For many apps, that title bar contains value information (e.g. the path to the file currently opened).

I was hoping there was some CCSM setting I could change or file I could patch to change this. If someone knows of a workaround, I'd love to hear it.

[Alex Baggott (alex-baggott)]

As part of the big bug review for 16.04 LTS I have tested this on 15.10 and the bug is still there. I think this is a feature request rather than a bug.

Point 4 no longer seems relevant, since a context menu now appears.